Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Colin Hanks the Younger Buys Modest Casa

BUYER: Colin HanksLOCATION: Hollyridge Drive, Los Angeles, CAPRICE: $1,025,000SIZE: 1,560 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1.75 bathroomsDESCRIPTION: Magical Spanish-style home designed by famed architect Paul R. Williams. Located on desirable Hollyridge Loop, the residence is situated on a knoll behind a gate for privacy. This house features a large open living rm w/ hi ceilings, fireplace & banks of windows, FDR & sunny kitchen. A few steps up lead to the 2 bedrooms, each w/ en-suite baths & the library/den which opens outside. There is also a separate studio. The property consists of lovely grassy gardens, tranquil patio spaces & views.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Some siblings and offspring of Tinseltown types grab hold of their famous family member's coattails and milk their fame for all it's worth. They pine for publicity and make secret deals with the paps so they can get their pix in the tabs. They frequent all the star-studded hot spots in Hollywood and appear in reality tee-vee programs that often expose them as no-talent nepotists. Sometimes–for better or worse–their efforts to trade on the family name lead to fame and fortune as is the case with folks like Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and her former bff Nicole Richie. For others, their story often ends in obscurity after their 15 minutes of fame evaporates like water in the desert. Those in this category might include AlianaLohan, Brody Jenner, Sean Stewart, Ashlee Simpson and all the other Kardashianladees not named Kim whom Your Mama strongly recommends bank what they're earning now because it is our humble and meaningless opinion that they are simply not interesting or talented enough to cultivate long term fame and fortune. Infamy? Maybe. Fame? Pleeze. No.

Then there are those that manage to forge their own way in the wicked world of Hollywood. Those might include peeps like Kate and Oliver Hudson, Tori Spelling, Rashida Jones, Tracee Ellis Ross and wild child turned earth mommy goddess Angelina Jolie. Listen children, Your Mama is not so stoopid that we don't recognize there was most likely some amount connection making nepotism involved in the careers of each of these people. However, whether you like them or not, they have proven they are more than just the child of a celebrity by having resumes that does not include amateur porn videos.

Colin Hanks–the early thirties son of super star Tom and his first wifey Samantha Lewes–falls into the latter category and it him and his recent purchase of a decidedly un-celebrity style house in Los Angeles' Bronson Canyon neighborhood that we'd like to discuss this afternoon. Mister Hanks the Younger started his own modest climb up the ladder of fame in the late 1990s when he appeared on the ill-fated UFO serious Roswell. He has gone on to make short arc appearances on The O.C., Mad Men, and Numb3rs on the boob toob as well as roles in films such as W, The House Bunny, My Mom's New Boyfriend and King Kong. According to his growing resume on the IMDB, the younger Mister Hanks also has meaty roles in several upcoming films in which he'll appear opposite big names like Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Tambour, Ann-Margaret, and ChloëSevigny.

Now then, let's get down to property tacks. Property records show a 1926 Paul Williams designed Spanish style house on Hollyridge Drive was purchased in early October of 2009 for $1,025,000 through a trust that sounds like it was chosen by a Buddhist. A few clicks, clacks and inquiries on our trusty laptop lead to a covert communique from our nearly omniscient aide de camp Lucy Spillerguts who tells Your Mama that the buyer of the casapequeña is indeed Colin Hanks, son of Tom. Listing information we received via Babbling Babette tells us the one story but two level casa measures a modest 1,560 square feet and includes just 2 bedrooms and 1.75 poopers.

The gated, white stucco and red tile roofed house sits atop a small knoll above the street where there is a detached 2 car garage. A meandering flight of brick stairs leads to the pergola shaded front door which opens directly into the living room which has wood floors, a wood burning fireplace, many paned windows and a gently arching, barrel vaulted ceiling. A small dining room with a high, peaked wood ceiling that mirrors the wood on the floor sits between the living room and the kitchen which has had a few updates (i.e. the stainless steel dishwasher) but is none the less all manner of hot mess. It appears the old, flat fronted cabinetry was stained a deep charcoal, which we like as an inexpensive alternative to all new and expensive cabinetry. However and sadly, Your Mama's positive comments on the petite cooker end there. There is an old fashioned jalousie window above the sink and the counter tops are a vibrant, almost violent shade of tur-qwaze tile. In the right circumstances a case can be made for jalousie windows and vividly colored counter tops that scream, "EASTER!" Lo-ward knows Your Mama is drawn to bright colors like a vampire to blood but this tur-quaze in simply awful. It is not, the children will note, not the worst of the kitchen issues. Let's begin with the insane placement of the dishwasher which when open prohibits use of the sink. Next might be what we fear is linoleum floor. And lastly, perhaps the most heinous of the bunch is that brown, built in relic of a range which just makes Your Mama's blood boil with surly objection. Just like ev-er-ee body else, we are all for re-using and recycling, but this crazy cooking contraption drags that concept so far over the line it makes Your Mama need a damn nerve pill to settle our jumpy decorative sensibilities. Who thought it was a good idea to keep this thing in the kitchen? Seriously? Who?

In addition to the two bedrooms which, according to listing information, are located a few steps up from the main level and each have en-suite poopers including one in which marble counter tops have been laid on cabinetry from the 1950s, there is a library/den that opens to the rear garden through French doors. The terraced back yard has several flat seating areas including a long, narrow strip of lawn perfect for exercising long bodied bitches like our Linda and Beverly and a flag stone tiled terrace that provides a view of downtown L.A. from over the roof top and through an army of palm trees.

Your Mama has one last thing to say about Mister Hanks the Younger's new crib: It's always so refreshing to see someone who grew up the privileged and wildly rich child of one of the world's most beloved and successful movie stars who none the less buys a lovely but small and unassuming house. Of course, this being Los Angeles, it's still an insanely expensive house compared to houses in most parts of the country, but still... We're certain Mister Hanks the Younger could have turned on the charm and squeezed a few more shekels out of Mister Hanks the Elder and bought something more lavish and celebrity style. But he did not. And that, my butter beans, is to the credit of his parents who, apparently, raised a son not saddled with the sort of sickening entitlement too many scions and siblings of Hollywood's elite seem to suffer from.

Anyhoo, Mister Hanks the Younger's new neighbors include Danny Masterson and his ladee-mate Bijou Phillips who purchased Chuck Berry's former 5 bedroom and 4 pooper property directly across the street in June of 2007 for $2,995,000.

20 comments:

You know what Mama? I used to say, you really want insight into someone's psyche? Meet their spouse/significant other. But I might have to amend that statement; see where they live. You're right about Colin Hanks. This by L.A. standards modest house speaks volumes about Colin's priorities and upbringing.

That kitchen looks like a photoshopping experiment gone awry. The built-in stove thingy has me in its thrall, through. Is that a roll-down cover I see? Fascinating.

The rest of the house is pretty nice, but the lot looks really narrow--from what I could tell from the photos.The bathroom bugs me for some reason. I love white marble, but it looks like it was slapped down on some 1960's cabinetry, then gussied up with Home Depot knobs.

It's very close to Glendower Place, the location of Dr. Harold Perelson' home and "the murder mystery that has puzzled a Los Feliz neighborhood since 1959." (http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/06/local/me-mansion6)

The allegedly haunted house has been kept intact since the grizzly murder in 1959. Creeepy.

This delightful Paul Williams casita is indeed a modest property for the scion of an icon; but Mama, this lil' chile will have to disagree about the kitchen ––––– although the shade of tur-kwaze is definitely NOT my favorite, it just somehow works for me here (although Lulu, our neighbor's guide dog, did growl at the photo).

And like MarkyMark & Anon 5:23, I just love that quirky cook center. But I do agree about the old fashioned jalousies; a crime when perpetrated on '50s Florida retirement homes, they're uglier than two sins & a lie here.

And the only nice thing about Home Despot reno is that is just as easy to rip out as put it...all-in-all, it has the good bones one would expect to find in a Paul Williams design.

Zeke, you forgot to mention that the creepy haunted house is overlooked by the famous Frank Lloyd Wright Ennis-Brown House, itself a setting for more than one horror movie, although most notably it appeared extensively in Blade Runner.

"Next might be what we fear is linoleum floor.." lol. Classic. Spot on about the kitchen.. the placement of the dishwasher is the worst I've ever seen.

I agree that this is modest for a home of a star's son who is a bazillionaire, and good for him for getting off his butt and starring in some shows himself (as you mentioned he could have been a Brandon Davis or a Paris Hilton).. however, when I saw Tori Spelling on tv saying she made it on her own and none of the casting directors she was auditioning for knew who she was I wanted to carve my eyes out with a dull spoon!

I'm assuming once the lad bought the house, he accepted decorating help from his fam. That kitchen needs to be gutted and torn out. Start from scratch, Colin.After that, the bathrooms. You'll improve the resale value immeasureably... as they say.

If he wanted to forge his own way, he should have changed his last name and put some distance between him and his super star father. Since he will ALWAYS be judged next to his father's great work.

I've seen his work in King Kong and Orange County and it was NOT great. Jack Black carried these two movies for him. I think Colin would be a good insurance salesman in the valley, but not an actor!

My view is some other great starving actor never got the chance that he had and filled, but life is not a level playing field, e$pecially in Hollywood.

Oh, and the house is priced about right for a gated home. The kitchen colors are a nightmare(dark brown and turquoise) and the oven and sink look forty years old. But hey, he's got the money to redo everything.

RE: The glendower house, after 50 years of decay, it has got to be a teardown. The property goes through to Glendower Ave below the Ennis House. They should buy it, tear the house down and built a visitor's center/staging area for Ennis. Solve the neighbors traffic concerns and still allow the public access. And it would create a revenue stream for the Ennis Foundation so they might be able to hang on to it and finish the restoration.

Anon 9:53, I like your thinking. Much as I am loath to teardown any period structure, after 50 years of active neglect, with no provenance to speak of and nothing architecturally significant about it, your solution seems most sound.

And that's not just because I am an incurable Wrightophile.

And Maria's right ––– it's more than 2 miles as the crow (or whatever passes for crows in So Cal) flies to the west of the Glendower property.